DIY//Magnet Primer & Chalkboard Paint

Last Friday was supposed to be dedicated to preparation for Driscoe's 2nd birthday party. Instead it turned into a DIY paint job that lasted all day and well into the midnight hours.  It started when Sarah, Dax, Mo and Grace decided to come over after a lovely FaceTime session between the three of us, you may have seen it here.

As the boys ran wild, Sarah and I started to get a little OCD at my disaster of a house (shedding golden retriever + toddlers = constant mess). So we began to clean and Sarah decided, very randomly, that we should paint the kitchen with magnetic primer and chalkboard paint. This coming from the girl who cooked an entire Thanksgiving feast the day before. Hadn't she had enough? Regardless, I loved the idea of the boys coloring in the kitchen, and I'd never painted before (though I did not disclose this to Sarah), so I really wanted to break that seal.

Sarah quickly put together a list of what we would need, she and Grace watched the babies and I hit Home Depot. I was in and out in record time, considering it was Black Friday. Things were falling into place, I got all of our supplies, plus primer and paint that would dry in 30 minutes!  We started our project first by cleaning the walls with soap and water. Then taping, and if you didn't already know, taping sucks. I'm terrible at it, and taped only a quarter of what Sarah did, but hey, that's what happens when you do everything better, right bohoBigSis?

Once we got that complete, we shook that can of paint ourselves, (because I forgot to have them do it at H.D.) to my Alabama Shakes vinyl, and got to painting!
Our first stroke in I finally came clean that I had never painted before, thinking Sarah would be appalled. It was quite the opposite. Come to find out, she has never painted either. So basically my kitchen was our guinea pig, and we were using BLACK paint, the day before Driscoe's birthday party. Awesome. Did I mention we had all 3 babies in the house and my 2 wild dogs? We don't think things through that well, but we are very adaptable people, and we got it done!

  
BEFORE//

'I love lamp'

Taping was the most tedious part. 

 Yes that is a ladle to stir, we had to improvise.

A little excited about sharing our first painting experience together! A day i'll never forget! In actuality she is just freaking out because there is no turning back now....and we have no clue what we are doing.

 We are naturals.

 Oh hey, aren't you supposed to be napping Dax? Is that a donut hole?

Aunt Grace was on baby duty while we tackled the kitchen. Dax and Driscoe were supposed to be going 'night night' in my bed….. 
 But Dax kept escaping. Finally we had to put him 'night night' in the pack n play in a room by himself. 
I went back to check on them a little later and Dax was gone……he escaped his room again, but this time he went and jumped in bed with Driscoe and was fast asleep. How cute is that?

Meanwhile, there was still painting to be done….

 This is her, 'I'm-a-bad-ass-painter' face.

Peeling tape takes skillz! No really, Google it.

Yes we had the Ice Cold Rockies at arms length. We gave Daron a very tall order on his way home from work: Beer & Milk, don't come home without it.

They definitely weren't down for the count in the pic above. This is how we kept them out of the kitchen for dinner. Sarah made a 'picnic'. They loved it, so did the dogs when both of them ran off. Cheers!

AFTER//
By 7 we finally reached a stopping point because we had dinner plans. I came home around 11:30 that night and put on the 2nd coat of Chalkboard paint then peeled the tape first thing in the morning.

 I love it, and during the day its still bright and pretty.
Picked up that cute little rug at Ikea...

I bought the frames from West Elm and majority of those pics are the works of, Brooke Schwab, I  colored that 'B' about 30 minutes before Driscoe's party!

Driscoe enjoying his new chalkboard wall//

Mo loves it too.

Side notes//
>The magnet primer doesn't work that great, only with those Instagram magnets that you can find here. Maybe if we did another coat? The directions said to put on one coat, wait 30, then repeat.
> I would suggest peeling the tape sooner than later. Some of the paint on my baseboards peeled off.
>Click here for the ChalkBoard Paint we used.
>Click here for dustless chalk we use.
>And if you are wondering, the answer is yes. Driscoe tried to color the door and everything else in sight (see above pic). Doh!

In the words of The Rolling Stones,

*Paint it Black*

love, bohoHoolia